Walmart Workers Plan Black Friday Strike! #walmart #occupy

This is music to my ears. As weird as it may sound I am not anti-corporation. I think we live in a system that needs radical change but the idea of flipping the whole thing over at this point would probably lead to more harm than good. However, I believe with the record setting profits that most corporations create each year, they can afford to take better care of their workers, the planet, and us along the way. Now the best way to make sure this happens is a combination of speaking out and limiting your spending. If there’s one thing a corporation will listen to it’s the sound of those dollars and coins leaving their banks at an alarming rate. Personally, I don’t shop at Wal-Mart at all. I haven’t since 2004 when I started my own business and even though I had many lean years during this time period, I never once couldn’t get by without Wal-Mart. What would it take for me to shop at Wal-Mart? Well, for starters, if they went back to their original business model that I grew up with in the 80’s, highlighting American manufactured goods throughout all of their stores, that would help a ton. #2 They should provide their workers with a basic healthcare plan and a living wage. Many Wal-Mart workers are told to get on medicare and many others are even on food stamps because Walmart doesn’t pay enough to support a modern family – so all that money you are saving from Wal-Mart is actually costing you money in tax dollars, oh and it’s making someone else rich in the process. Look, if the Walton family, aka the inheritors of the world’s largest company who didn’t do shit to earn it on their own, can be #’s 6,7,8,9 on Forbes richest people in America list, I think they can allow some of their profits to take care of the people who have put them on top of this pyramid in the first place.

Now for the news. Wal-Mart workers are once again protesting un-fair labor practices (shocker) and they have told Wal-Mart that if they don’t respond by Black Friday (Wal-Mart’s biggest day of the year) than the workers will strike and protest inside and outside the stores.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN, but better yet, I would love to see Wal-Mart actually step up to the plate and take care of their workers.

How can you help? Well, you can fill out this form and let Wal-Mart know your thoughts. I think it’s important to let companies know what they are doing wrong and the consequences of their actions will result in lost revenue. Then if they still don’t want to change you drop them. It’s important we stick with the Wal-Mart workers in a time like this. It takes a lot of guts for people with bills to stand up to an employer, especially one that does not pay well enough to even miss one day of work. If it comes down to Wal-Mart workers having to strike on Black Friday I hope the people who took part in the Occupy Movement can help them protest and strike at all of their locations.